Julia Child! America's Favorite Chef

Julia Child was an unlikely television pioneer, a woman who made cooking fun, interesting, and accessible for a generation, paving the way for today's cooking show hosts on PBS and cable television. Born to an upper crust WASP family, Julia was a free-spirited and fun-loving young woman who lacked purpose and direction. After college, she tried advertising work in Manhattan, then joined the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) during World War II, and while posted in India and Ceylon, met her future husband Paul Child, whose postwar diplomatic job in Paris gave Julia--who could barely boil an egg--the opportunity to study at France's famed Cordon Bleu cooking school. Here, she immersed herself in the glories of classical French cuisine, which she was determined to make intelligible to average American housewives. From the PBS-aired American Masters series, Julia Child! America's Favorite Chef looks at her grueling decade-long ordeal in writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which eventually sold over a million copies, and ultimately led to her own show The French Chef, where her funny, quirky, yet informative style entranced viewers (her fondness for sherry--a little for the sauce, a little for the cook--became a beloved joke). Combining early TV show clips and many rare photos, together with interviews featuring chefs and cooking experts who pay tribute to Child's role in jumpstarting a culinary revolution, this program--produced shortly before her death in August 2004--is a comprehensive appreciation of an American original. Recommended. Aud: P. (S. Rees)